Pets are our friends, they keep us company and they bring us many benefits. But they must be held responsibly. Releasing that turtle that we have already tired of in the river or letting our cat roam freely are apparently harmless acts that can have very serious consequences . And it is that a released pet is going to find itself in a foreign ecosystem and may alter its operation in an irreversible way.
Not surprisingly, invasive alien species are considered the second most important cause of biodiversity loss worldwide, and this impact is much stronger on the islands. Think, for example, of the birds and reptiles that live there quietly and in the absence of predators: they are very easy prey for feral cats. According to the journal Nature Communications , cats kill between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and between 6.9 and 20.7 billion mammals a year.
Just over a year ago, a SEO / BirdLife report warned that several endemic bird species in the Canary Islands were seriously threatened by the presence of feral cats on the islands, especially in La Graciosa and on the island of Lobos, both part of the Natura 2000 Network for its important biodiversity . Faced with the necessary control measures for the feline population launched by the Lanzarote town hall, many animal groups raised their hands to their heads and a campaign to collect signatures was launched. But to avoid having to take drastic and unpopular measures, it is best to inform and educate pet owners on responsibility . If we do not want to end the unique species and the valuable biodiversity of our islands, we must be aware that pets should not be loose in the countryside and, far from it, abandon them or release them into the natural environment.
As a picture is worth a thousand words, the Divulgare team, made up of scientists from the Research group of Plant Ecology and Evolution of the University of Vigo , has produced this nice video that helps us better understand the problem of cats in the islands.
